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DE RUEHLO #1642 1971003
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R 161003Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY LONDON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2881
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS LONDON 001642 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID PREF DJ ER ET KE SO UG UK
SUBJECT: FOOD SECURITY: INCREASED SPENDING OVER NEXT THREE 
YEARS 
 
REF: A. STATE 70789 
     ¶B. LONDON 1562 
 
¶1. (SBU) Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Special Advisor on 
Development, Brendan Cox, informed Emboff July 7 that food 
security is a G8 priority for the Prime Minister and that the 
UK Government will be increasing its food security and 
agriculture assistance to USD 1.8 billion over the next three 
years.  Cox noted the importance of food security to Brown 
and referenced Brown's July 5 editorial on the topic. 
Highlighting his own background in campaigns against hunger, 
Brown said in the editorial that world hunger will increase 
with rising food prices and the global economic downturn.  He 
argued that the G8 should work toward a common international 
system that allows developing countries to establish costed 
plans, similar to the African Union's agriculture program, 
and then identifies support for them.  Brown also welcomed 
President Obama's new aid package for food security and noted 
the importance of access to food as a prerequisite to 
achieving the rest of the Millennium Development Goals 
(MDGs).  Confirming the UK Government's new assistance 
package for food security, Department for International 
Development (DFID) Food Security Officer Tessa MacArthur said 
the division of labor between the U.S. and UK on maternal 
health and food security that former DFID and current FCO 
Minister Ivan Lewis floated with the Charge in reftel B is 
"not a policy that is moving forward," with Lewis' departure 
from DFID. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Responding to reftel A, MacArthur told Emboff July 
14 that the newly announced USD 1.8 billion had not yet been 
programmed, but that DFID is closely tracking the situation 
in the Horn of Africa.  In Ethiopia, the UK shares our 
concerns and has been very happy with the coordination on the 
ground, especially with regards to delivery and access. 
MacArthur said the UK has given GBP 24 million (USD 38.4 
million) in 2009 to food security efforts in Ethiopia.  On 
Somalia, she also affirmed the UK's concern, especially with 
the increasing numbers of IDPs displaced during the current 
instability in Mogadishu.  The UK is also tracking the 
situation in Kenya, which is also concerning because of the 
increasing food insecurity and delivery problems. 
 
 
Visit London's Classified Website: 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Unit ed_Kingdom 
 
LeBaron